This invention is directed to a composition for preventing the dissemination of particles of dust into the environment, and more particularly for the treatment of particles of dust which are hazardous to the individual's health and safety and the environment.
The presence of particulate matter or dust is a serous hazard with respect to the environment, and in general to the personal health and safety of individuals living in the vicinities of industrial operations such as the iron, coal, and steel industries. Dust particles are known to contaminate food and water and, when inhaled, result in serious respiratory ailments. The industries which are primarily responsible for most of the dust problems include the mining, coal, chemical, steel, and waste burning industries, which generate smoke, dust, ash, and other particulate matter. The iron and steel industries, for example, utilize open hearth furnaces which generate dust particles generally collected by electrostatic precipitators to control the emissions. These electrostatic precipitators typically collect the dust particles in hoppers which are periodically dumped into containers, thereby creating emissions during the transfer of the material. Moreover, in removing the particulate matter from the containers, there generally are severe dust problems in that the materials are dumped in land fills, etc., where wind creates dust clouds, contaminating the entire area.
Another source of dust or ash is where incinerators or boilers are utilized to burn or incinerate waste such as garbage in place of ordinary fuels, i.e., coal, oil, or gas. The incineration of waste generates dust or ash of various compositions due to the source of the waste material. For example, dust generated by incinerating garbage and the like is significantly finer than dust derived from other fuels, which an be characterized as being very light, e.g., similar to talc powder in density, and therefore difficult to treat with most water systems. Various methods have been used to control this type of ash, e.g., spraying with wettng agents, but because of the fineness or density of the particles, the dust was difficult to collect and transport prior to treatment. Many of the problems associated with fine dust particles were overcome, however, by using a unique combination of wetting agents together with a certain mixture of polymers which react with the particles to form larger agglomerates capable of being collected by conventional methods.
In addition, there are presently available various mechanical and chemical methods for preventing particulate matter from becoming airborne, i.e., electrical precipitators, etc., and various systems of hoods may be installed on the furnaces where the harmful dust particles are filtered. These mechanical systems alone, however, are cumbersome and expensive, and are not completely adequate for present-day standards. Similarly, the chemical systems used for controlling dust are limited to utilizing aqueous compositions to prevent the particles of dust from become airborne.
To avoid the many problems encountered in dust abatement and to provide a better means for minimizing the amount of dust escaping into the environment, it has been found that the aqueous polymeric compositions of this invention may be utilized to suppress or control and, in some instances, eliminate the emission of particulate matter into the environment. The aqueous polymeric composition of this invention comprises a unique combination of nonionic and anionic water-soluble polymers, together with a synergistic mixture of nonionic and anionic surfactants, in an aqueous system to treat and control dust emissions.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a water-soluble polymeric solution for the treatment and control of dust emissions. It is another object of this invention to provide a method of treating particulate matter with an aqueous polymeric composition for purposes of controlling the formation of dust. These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a further more detailed description as follows.